Content distribution and data aggregation for scalability of observation platforms

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for managing and distributing content and aggregation of data in a plurality of observation platforms are disclosed. A message is generated with content at a content distribution manager. A delivery of the message is scheduled and a plurality of specified devices are specified for delivery in a plurality of observation platforms at a designated time and/or location(s) via the content distribution manager, wherein the plurality of observation platforms are capable of receiving a signal from a first mobile device with a first characteristic that corresponds to an audible source and a second characteristic that corresponds to information indicative of a geographic position of the first mobile device and relaying the signal to a destination based on the first characteristic and/or the second characteristic. The message is delivered to the plurality of observation platforms which relays the message to the plurality of specified devices at the designated time.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of and claims thebenefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/665,527, filedon Oct. 31, 2012, entitled “OBSERVATION PLATFORM FOR PERFORMINGSTRUCTURED COMMUNICATIONS,” by Russell, et al., having Attorney DocketNumber PING-004, assigned to the assignee of the present application,which is incorporated in its entirety by reference.

The application with Ser. No. 13/665,527 is a continuation-in-partapplication of and claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/401,146, filed on Feb. 21, 2012, entitled“OBSERVATION PLATFORM FOR USING STRUCTURED COMMUNICATIONS,” by Russell,et al., having Attorney Docket Number PING-003, assigned to the assigneeof the present application. The application with Ser. No. 13/665,527incorporated the patent application Ser. No. 13/401,146 by reference inits entirety.

The application with Ser. No. 13/401,146 claims priority to the thenco-pending provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/445,504, filed onFeb. 22, 2011, entitled “ENABLING A RETAIL SALES/SERVICE PROVIDER TOINTERACT WITH ON-PREMISE CUSTOMERS,” by Russell, et al., having AttorneyDocket Number PING-001.PRO. The application with Ser. No. 13/401,146also claims priority to the then co-pending provisional U.S. PatentApplication No. 61/487,432, Filed on May 18, 2011, entitled “ACTIVITYCOORDINATING ASSOCIATE'S AUTOMATIC SERVICE ASSISTANT,” by Russell, etal., having Attorney Docket Number PING-002.PRO. The application withSer. No. 13/401,146 incorporated the Provisional Patent Applications61/445,504 and 61/487,432 in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

Retailers are under constant pressure to cut costs, improve margins, andincrease floor traffic and customer satisfaction. This has always beenso, but the rise of the internet, available at home and while mobile,has increased the pressure greatly. Loyalty programs and per-customerpricing, such as special discounts, are one set of tools used in thepast, and used more. Moreover, there is an increased demand to manageand train associates and provide an increased measure of customersatisfaction in a retail environment. Such concerns also extend tosituations and environments besides retail settings. Moderncommunication devices provide for many communication and businessanalytics opportunities in retail and other settings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of an example environment for anobservation platform for structuring a communication in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of an example environment for anobservation platform for structuring a communication in accordance withother embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 1C illustrates a block diagram of an example environment for anobservation platform for structuring a communication in accordance withother embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example environment forstructuring communication in an observation platform in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for structuringcommunication in an observation platform in accordance with embodimentsof the present technology.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for discipliningcommunications in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for observing andrecording users of communication devices in accordance with embodimentsof the present technology.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for characterizingcommunications in a group of users in accordance with embodiments of thepresent technology.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for structuringcommunication in a plurality of observation platforms in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for performingcommunications in an of observation platforms in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for performingcommunications in an of observation platforms in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for performingcommunications in an of observation platforms in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for performingcommunications in an of observation platforms in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for performingcommunications in an of observation platforms in accordance withembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example environment formanaging and distributing content in a plurality of observationplatforms in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for managing anddistributing content and aggregation of data in a plurality ofobservation platforms in accordance with embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for managing aplurality of observation platforms via a manager application inaccordance with embodiments of the present technology.

The drawings referred to in this description of embodiments should beunderstood as not being drawn to scale except if specifically noted.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the presenttechnology, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the technology will be described in conjunction withvarious embodiment(s), it will be understood that they are not intendedto limit the present technology to these embodiments. On the contrary,the present technology is intended to cover alternatives, modificationsand equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope ofthe various embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

Furthermore, in the following description of embodiments, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present technology. However, the present technologymay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not beendescribed in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of thepresent embodiments.

Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present descriptionof embodiments, discussions utilizing terms such as “receiving,”“recognizing,” “deriving,” “storing,” “relaying,” “executing,”“generating,” “determining,” “tracking,” “recording,” “identifying,”“making,” “delivering,” “scheduling,” “specifying,” or the like, referto the actions and processes of a computer system, or similar electroniccomputing device. The computer system or similar electronic computingdevice, such as a telephone, smart phone, tablet computer, or handheldmobile device, manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission, or display devices. Embodiments ofthe present technology are also well suited to the use of other computersystems such as, for example, optical and mechanical computers.

Overview of Content Distribution and Data Aggregation for Scalability ofObservation Platforms

Embodiments of the present technology are for a content distributionmanager for scalability of observation platforms. An observationplatform may involve a number of users or people and provides structureand discipline communications for the users and captures data regardingthe communications such as user context and performance metrics. Thepresent technology may be employed in various environments such asretail settings, public-stage floors, outdoor venues, concerts, policescenarios, disaster areas, schools, sporting events, hospitalityoperations, security operations, military operations, a prisonorganization, customer service, manufacturing organization, a factory,and other environments where humans work together and wherecommunications occur between users.

The content distribution and data aggregation system, hereinafter called“the content distribution manager,” allows for simple operation of aplurality of observation platforms by providing a graphical and audiointerface for choosing individuals or groups of individuals for which tosend or receive messages and collect, group, aggregate and statisticallyanalyze connections, motions or behaviors of users within and between aset of observation platforms.

The present technology employs an architecture with cloud based servicesthat allows for the management of a plurality of observation platforms.For example, a manager may be responsible for any number of retailand/or hospitality environments such as a hundreds or even thousands ofretail environment each with their own physical building and each withan observation platform. Each environment may comprise any number ofusers associated with the observation platform including managers, storeassociates, employees, hourly workers, salespeople, customers, guests,etc. The manager may employ the present technology to observe theobservation platforms or may use the present technology to hear, see ordeliver messages to the devices associated with the observationplatforms. The messages may be a voice recording or other type of audiofile possibly generated by text-to-speech (TTS) engines attached to orcontained within the present technology. The manager or user may employa content distribution manager to generate or access the message. Thecontent distribution manager is then used to schedule when the messageis to be delivered to the devices. The content distribution manager mayalso be used to determine or specify which devices in the observationplatforms are to receive the message. For example, the contentdistribution manager may be used to specify that the message is only tobe delivered to devices that are associated with the store manager(s) ormay specify that all devices associated with a particular department areto receive the message. The specification of devices to receive theinformation may also be based on the context of the devices asdetermined by one or more of: the identity of the user (if identified)associated with the device, the characteristics of the signals beingreceived by the device, the history of the signals that have beenreceived by the device or associated user and the analysis of thehistorical metrics of the device or user associated with the device. Inone embodiment, different devices may be scheduled to receive themessage at different times.

In one embodiment, the content distribution manager may be accessed byany computing device via a uniform resource locator (URL) or webaddress. The content distribution manager has a graphical interface forthe user or manager to observe the observation platforms and to controlthe content and messages sent by the content distribution manager to thedevices associated with the observation platforms. Portions orcomponents of the content distribution manager may be executed orassociated with cloud services or cloud computing. The cloud servicesare then used to deliver the messages with content to the observationplatforms. The cloud services may also be used to provide otherapplications or services associated with observation platforms. Forexample, the other services or applications may be a web portal orservice portal, a manager app, a log-on tool, a support manager, dataanalysis tools, and third party apps and computer systems.

Using structuring communications in an observation platform, as referredto herein, may refer to the following actions regarding communicationsbetween two or more users: disciplining, structuring, controlling,participating, discouraging, encouraging, influencing, nudging, makingan example of, permitting, managing, managing to be in compliance withpolicies, measuring what goes on as a communication occurs,characterizing, enabling, observing, recording, correcting, directing,etc.

The structuring or disciplining process envisioned herein involves usinga communications and computer system as a platform to listen to commandsfrom users, interpret those commands, establish two-party and multipartycommunications links, pass on messages, and store messages and commands,thereby permitting an owner or manager of a group of people to observeand analyze the effectiveness the group's interactions. In a way, it islike the central nervous system of an organism, wherein the organism isa group of people.

One purpose of structuring or disciplining a communication is forassociates to become better customer service associates or sales peoplein a retail setting. The present technology may accomplish this goal bymonitoring communications of the users that occur via communicationdevices. The communications may be monitored to derive contextinformation from the communication such as the name of the user,geographic location of a user, the state or status of the user (e.g.,busy, available, engaged, conversing, listening, out-of-range, notlogged on, etc.), business metrics regarding the user's interaction withothers, and commands from the user. The communications may be monitoredby a computer system associated with a radio base station that acts as acentral hub for the user communications. The computer system may convertaudible, voice or speech communications to a text or machine-compatibleformat using standard and well-known techniques. The text may be used toderive the context information from the communication. The computersystem may also store some or all of the communication including thetime and geographic location of the device, the audible portion of thecommunication and the text format of the communication. The structuredcommunications may extend beyond a single venue to multiple venues orstorage locations without regard to geographic location. Customers orusers may refer to customers who are purchasing items in an environment,past customers, potential customers, perspective customers, shoppers,browsers, or others who enter the environment and do not represent theenvironment in an official capacity such as an employee does.

In one embodiment, the computer system uses the derived contextinformation to determine a destination of the communication and forwardsor relays the communication to the destination. For example, a firstuser may attempt to contact a second user via communication devices. Thefirst user sends the communication to the computer system associatedwith the radio base station. The computer system recognizes the firstuser and is able to derive context information regarding thecommunication and determine that the communication's destination is athird user. The computer system then relays the communication, via theradio base station, to a communication device associated with the thirduser. The computer system may also convert the communication to text andderive contextual or performance metrics regarding the first or thirduser. For example, the first user may be an associate in a retailsetting and the third user is a customer. The first user may beresponding to a query made by the third user. The performance metric maybe the length of time it took for the first user to respond to the queryor may be whether or not the query was satisfied or may be a differentmetric entirely. The computer system may derive and store more than oneperformance metric. The computer system may also access more than onecommunication regarding a user to determine some metrics.

In one embodiment, the computer system is able to determine the state ofthe user based on either direct user action such as a button press orvoice command; or based on inference from words being spoken, motions,locations or other contextual information. In one embodiment, the thirduser may be out of range of the radio base station and sendscommunications via a network associated with the computer system. In oneembodiment, the third user may be part of a similar operation to that inFIG. 1A, i.e., another retail outlet or corporate headquarters for thesame company in a different location as shown in FIG. 1C.

In one embodiment, the computer system is able to determine geographiclocations of users based on information received from communicationdevices associated with the users. The geographic location data may bestored as data associated with a user's communications device at aparticular time, or as a performance metric, or may be combined withother information to generate a performance metric. The geographicinformation may also be used by managers to manage or train associatesor to optimize customer service.

A user, as referred to herein, may be a person or people such as,associates, employees, managers, trainees, trainers, customers,emergency responders, personnel, etc. In one embodiment, the userinterfaces with a device for communications with other users. Such adevice may be a handheld device, a headset, a Smartphone, an earpiece, aradio, a computer system, or other device capable of providingcommunications between users. Such users may be external to theoperating entity and desire access via smart devices or applications.

A performance metric may also be a metric, a key performance metric or abusiness metric. A metric or performance metric as referred to hereinmay be any type of data associated with or derived from a communicationbetween users, including the location of the communications device, orthe words spoken and the contextual state at the time of a particularcommunication event. In one embodiment, the computer system is able togenerate a visual representation of metrics. For example, the visualrepresentation may be a map of the geographic location of the users inan environment or may visual demonstrate the availability status of auser. In another example, the visual representation may be textualinformation such as the number of communications sent by a user or thelength of time it took for a user to respond to a communication. Theperformance metrics may be sent or displayed to a manager or other userfor use in making decisions. The performance metrics may be used by themanager to optimize customer service in a retail setting by takingactions such as reprimanding or rewarding an associate or noticing thatno associates are located near a group of customers. Performance metricsmay also generate real-time alarms or notifications that action orcoordination is needed.

The present technology provides for many examples of how structuringcommunications may be used in various environments for a variety ofpurposes. The following discussion will demonstrate various hardware,software, and firmware components that are used with and in computersystems and other user devices for structuring communications usingvarious embodiments of the present technology. Furthermore, the systems,platforms, and methods may include some, all, or none of the hardware,software, and firmware components discussed below.

Content Distribution and Data Aggregation for Scalability of ObservationPlatforms

With reference now to FIG. 1A, a block diagram of an environment 100 forstructuring communications in an observation platform. Environment 100includes devices 105, 110 and 130, radio base station 115, computer 120,database 125 and network 135. Environment 100 comprises components thatmay or may not be used with different embodiments of the presenttechnology and should not be construed to limit the present technology.Some or all of the components of environment 100 may be described as anobservation platform for structuring a communication.

The present technology makes use of communication devices. Radio basestation 115 and devices 105, 110 and 130 may also be described ascommunication devices. Devices 105, 110 and 130 may be user devices thatare mobile and employed by a user to communicate with other users viaother devices. Communications between the devices may be described assignals. The devices 105, 110 and 130 may be a smart phone, a personaldigital assistant, a fob, a handheld device, a headset device or othersmall electronic device. In one embodiment, devices 105, 110 and 130employ speakers and microphones with control buttons for audiblecommunications. The control buttons may be press to signal buttons, pushto talk buttons, volume control buttons, and power on/off buttons orother standard buttons and may be options on a touch screen. Devices105, 110 and 130 may be handheld, may be worn around the neck, and maybe a headset worn on the head or behind the ear or otherwise interfacewith the human body. Devices 105, 110 and 130 may or may not comprise ascreen or display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD). In oneembodiment, devices 105, 110 and 130 do not comprise a display such thata user is not inundated with too many options or too much informationfrom the device. A user device without a display may simplifycommunications and thus allow heads-up awareness and presence in theenvironment. Another user, such as a customer, may be more likely toemploy the device for its intended purpose if the human interface issimplified.

Devices 105, 110 and 130 and other devices in environment 100 may bedispensed to a user upon entering environment 100 or may be brought bythe user into environment 100. For example, in a retail settingassociates may be issued devices by the employer or owner of theretailer setting. Customers in the retail setting may also be issueddevices as they enter the retail setting. Customers may choose whetheror not to accept the device or whether or not to use the device afteraccepting it. The associate devices and the customer devices may or maynot be the same type or model of devices. Alternatively, the customermay bring a device into the retail setting such as a smart phone. Thecustomer may download an app to the smart phone that will allow thecustomer to use the device for communications in the store withassociates or others in accordance with present technology. The customermay remain anonymous or may elect to identify themselves. In oneembodiment, recognition of the customer's identity is not required foradditional services or offers.

Devices 105, 110 and 130 may be low power devices. The devices may usebatteries or solar power including either ambient or battery solar powerin a low duty-cycle manner to save power. In one embodiment, the deviceshave an automatic sleep function when location of the device does notchange and no communications are sent or received after a period oftime.

Radio base station 115 may be a communication device that is capable ofcommunicating with devices 105, 110 and 130. Radio base station maysimply be a component of computer 120 or may be a standalone device thatis coupled with, connect to, or otherwise associated with computer 120.Radio base station 115 and computer 120 may be physically adjacent toone another or may be separated by a distance (e.g., cloud services).Computer 120 is able to instantaneously receive communications fromradio base station 115 and to send communications to radio base station115 for radio base station 115 to transmit the communication to itsdestination. Computer 120 is a computer system with a process and memoryand is capable of executing commands, software and firmware. Computer120 may be a desktop computer, a server computer, a cloud-based computeror other standard computing system or may be custom built for thepresent technology.

Radio base station 115 and devices 105, 110 and 130 employ standardtechniques for communicating wirelessly. The communications may beperformed using radio techniques such as near field communications,short wave radio, infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, standard wireless computernetwork protocols, etc. Devices 105, 110 and 130 may be able tocommunicate with each other directly or through radio base station 115.Devices 105, 110 and 130 communicate with each other via the computersystem 120. In one embodiment, all communications in environment 100 arerelayed through radio base station 115 which acts as a central hub. Forexample, device 105 may communicate with device 110 by device 105sending a communication to radio base station 115, computer 120 derivesthat device 110 is the destination for the communication and relays thecommunication to device 110. This may occur automatically and quicklyenough such that the users will not experience any undue lag incommunications. In one embodiment, devices 105, 110 and 130 maycommunicate directly with computer 120. For example, a user may issue acommand to computer 120 via device 105 or computer 120 may sendinformation to device 105. Information send from computer 120 to device105 may be an audible voice signal or may be textual, contextual,geographical or graphical data to be displayed at device 105 if it isproperly equipped to do so.

In one embodiment, devices 105, 110 and 130 may communicate with oneanother directly, and their signals may be monitored and processed bycomputer system 120 via a monitoring system associated with the radiobase station 115. Instructions or commands may still be directed towardsthe computer system 120.

In one embodiment, computer 120 is able to recognize a user sending acommunication. The user may be recognized based on the device used tosend the communication to computer 120 and radio base station 115. Forexample, device 105 may have a unique signature associated with itstransmissions such that computer 120 can identify differentiate thedevice from another user. Such recognition of a user may then beemployed by computer 120 for future communications with other devices.In one embodiment, the signal or communications between devices areencrypted. The signal may be encoded such that it is unique to aspecific device. The encryption or encoding may be employed by computer120 to recognize the user of the device. In one embodiment, the user mayidentify himself to the computer system 120 and the computer system 120makes the association between user identification and device 105'sinternal electronic identification.

Computer 120 may determine that the destination of a communication is asingle device or a plurality of devices. Thus computer 120 may relay acommunication from device 105 only to device 110 or may relay it to bothdevice 110 and device 130. Computer 120 may determine that another userdevice is the destination of a communication originated by device 105but may also directly respond to the communication by executing acommand or sending a communication back to device 105. In oneembodiment, a communication from device 105 has more than onecharacteristic or aspect. For example, the communication may have afirst characteristic that corresponds to an audible source such thewords spoken by a user employing device 105. The communication may alsocontain contextual information such as engaged, available, listening toinformation, returning to coverage zones, or other behavioral/contextualinformation. The communication may also have a third characteristic thatcomprises geographical position information of device 105 or may haveinformation indicative of a geographic position of device 105. Computer120 is able to determine a geographic position and direction of motionof a device from the information indicative of a geographic position ofdevice. The motion may also be described as path of travel. Acharacteristic of the communication may be a portion of thecommunication, data associated with the communication, attributes of thecommunication, or metadata regarding the communication.

In one embodiment, computer 120 comprises a storage medium for storingsome or all of a communication. Computer 120 may store allcommunications between devices in environment 100. Computer 120 maystore communications for a pre-determined amount of time. Differentcharacteristics of the communication may be stored including portions ofthe communication itself. Additionally, the computer may request andstore all audible information regardless if the user presses a push totalk button or otherwise signals the need to begin a communication. Forexample, the communication may comprise an audible portion, a textportion, information indicative of a geographical position, and ageographical data portion. The audible portion may also be converted totext. Computer 120 may store all or some of the different portionsincluding the portion converted to text. Computer 120 may storegeographic position information regarding a device over a period of timesuch that a path of travel of the user may be inferred. Thus theposition and context of a user may be mapped, tracked or predictedthrough a physical environment or area.

In one embodiment, computer 120 receives a communication from a devicewith a portion of the communication that corresponds to a voice of theuser of the device. Computer 120 is able to convert the audible portionto information used by computer 120 to derive context information fromthe communication to determine performance metrics regarding thecommunication or the user of the device. The resulting information mayalso be interpreted as a command for computer 120 to execute. Theresulting information may also be employed to determine a destinationfor the communication.

In one embodiment, each speaker is identified with a unique identifierwith each voice file so that a speech-to-text engine can train on thespeaker's voice and more accurately choose words from the dictionariesand individual user grammars. Individually customized dictionaries andgrammars may be used for the sequential context of the spoken words. Forexample, saying, “urgent Bob” is interpreted by looking up the firstword in a command dictionary and the second word in a names or placesdictionary. In one embodiment, a frequency table is built for each userdefining how frequently they call a name or place to improve theprobability of selecting the correct word. In one embodiment, if acommand, name, or place is not understood, the system may default to themost likely destination group. The user can easily opt out of thedefault destination and start again. Alternatively, if the command, nameor place is not recognized, the computer system 120 may be programmed todefault to a simple reply such as “command not recognized” or “personnot found.”

In one embodiment, computer 120 executes a command received from device105. The command may be directly received from device 105 or may bereceived in an audible voice signal with is converted to text and theninterpreted to be a command for computer 120. The command may be toinitiate a virtual voice connection between device 105 and device 110.The command may be to initiate a connection to a telephony system suchthat a user of device 105 may communicate with another user who isemploying a telephone for communication. The command may be for computer120 to store information into or extract information out of database125.

In one embodiment, computer 120 is able to access database 125 overnetwork 135. Network 135 may be a local area network, a wirelessnetwork, the Internet or another computer network. In one embodiment,database 125 is a component part of computer 120 and network 135 is notrequired for computer 120 to access database 125. Database 125 maycomprise an inventory of product or any other type of information. Forexample, in a retail setting a customer may use a device to communicatewith an associate regarding whether the retail setting has a particularproduct in stock. The associate may use key terms to query computer 120regarding whether the product is in stock. Computer 120 may convert theassociate's voice to text and recognize the command regarding whetherthe product is in stock. Computer 120 then queries database 125 andsends a response back to the associate and/or customer. The response maybe sent back using an audible signal or a signal to be displayed on ascreen at the user device. Similar examples may be constructed aroundproduct location databases, workforce scheduling systems, on-floor zoneassignments, time clock systems or other information systems used foroperations and reporting. Alternatively, computer 120 may recognize acommand based on the converted text without a user saying key terms.

Database 125 may be a local inventory or a larger inventory. In oneembodiment, database 125 is not an inventory but comprises differentdata. For example, a user may employ the device to communicate with andcommand computer 120 to perform a key word search of the Internet usinga search engine such as a website search engine.

With reference now to FIG. 1B, a block diagram of an environment 140 forstructuring communications in an observation platform. Environment 140includes devices 105, 110 and 130, radio base station 115, computer 120,transceivers 145, 150, and 155, and regions 160, 165, and 170.Environment 140 comprises components that may or may not be used withdifferent embodiments of the present technology and should not beconstrued to limit the present technology. Some or all of the componentsof environment 140 may be described as an observation platform forstructuring a communication.

Transceivers 145, 150, and 155 are capable of sending and receivingsignals to and from radio base station 115 and devices 105, 110 and 130.Transceivers 145, 150, and 155 may or may not be networked to oneanother and to either radio base station 115, computer 120 or both.Transceivers 145, 150, and 155 may be transceivers such as wirelessrouters in a computing network. The transceivers may relay acommunication from a user device to computer 120. A communication orsignal may be routed through a plurality of transceivers before reachingcomputer 120.

In one embodiment, the transceivers may be uniquely identifiable suchthat a communication may comprise a characteristic that identifies thecommunication as being routed through a given transceiver. Thisidentification of the transceiver may be employed by computer 120 todetermine a geographic location of a device or user. Thus, acharacteristic of the communication may be an identity of a transceiverand comprises information that is indicative of a geographic position.Computer 120 may determine that a device is in a geographic region thatis associated with a transceiver such as region 160 associated withtransceiver 145. Computer 120 may also use geographic information anduser motion characteristics to predict and pre-set association to thenext likely transceiver.

In one embodiment, computer 120 determines the geographic location of adevice based on a transceiver signal strength received at the devicefrom one or more transceivers. For example, device 130 may receivesignals from both transceivers 150 and 155 each with a correspondingsignal strength. The signal strength data is sent from device 130 tocomputer 120 as a characteristic of a signal or communication sent tocomputer 120. The signal strength data is then used by computer 120 todetermine the geographic position of device 130.

Transceivers 145, 150, and 155 each have an associated region such asregions 160, 165, and 170. The regions may define the transmission rangeof the transceiver or may be defined based on some other criteria. Inone embodiment, the regions may be described as wireless hotspots.Regions 160, 165 and 170 may be well defined geographical regions eitherindoors or outdoors and me be known to computer 120. Regions 160, 165and 170 are depicted as not overlapping one another. However, theregions may or may not overlap one another. In one embodiment, computer120 may determine the geographic location of a device based on itslocation in one or more regions. For example, device 105 may be locatedin region 160. In another example, regions 160 and 165 may beoverlapping and computer 120 determines that device 110 is in theoverlapping portions of region 160 and 165 because a characteristic of acommunication from device 110 indicates that device 110 is receivingsignals from both transceiver 145 and 150. Thus a characteristic ofsignal sent from a user device to computer 120 may be contents of acommunication, a portion of a communication corresponding to an audiblesource, signal strength data of a transceiver, an identity of atransceiver, geographic position data, or other information.

In one embodiment, computer 120 determines the geographic motion,movement, or path of travel of a user based on transceiver signalstrengths received at the device from one or more transceivers. Movementof the communications device 130 may be derived from data regardingsignal strength measurements made at one or more of the transceivers,where the signal strength is measured and sampled at successive timeintervals, via well-known methods. For example, as a user moves aboutthe region in environment 140, the signal strength will increase at onetransceiver device and decrease at another. Movement of thecommunications device 130 may also be derived from internal componentsin the device such as accelerometers, again via successive time samplesof acceleration data. This data may be used to detect a smaller range ofmovement.

With reference now to FIG. 1C, a block diagram of an environment 180 forstructuring communications in an observation platform. Environment 180includes devices 105, 110, 111 and 131, radio base stations 115 and 116,computers 120 and 121, network 135 and regions 175 and 176. Environment180 comprises components that may or may not be used with differentembodiments of the present technology and should not be construed tolimit the present technology. Some or all of the components ofenvironment 180 may be described as an observation platform forstructuring a communication.

In one embodiment, device 105 and 110 are located within region 175. Thecomponents depicted within region 175 may be described as an observationplatform. Region 175 may be described as having a radio range, or spanof operating distance. For example, radio base station 115 may have aphysical limit regarding the distance which it may transmit radiosignals. Therefore, a device outside of the radio range, such as devices131 or 111 will not be able to communicate with computer 120 via a radiosignal transmitted from radio base station 115. Additionally, devices105, 110, 111 and 131 may also have a limited radio range.

These limitations may be overcome by computer 120 relaying thecommunication to either device 131 or a second observation platformwithin region 176 via network 135. Therefore, devices 105 and 110 maycommunicate with either device 111 or 131 where the communications arerelayed by computer 120 and network 135. Region 176 may be described asa second observation platform with components that are duplicates of orsimilar to components of region 175. The regions 175 and 176 maycomprises any number of communication devices or other components suchcomputers, routers, and transceivers. Thus, the present technologyprovides for structured or disciplined communications between at leasttwo user devices that may or may not be within radio range of oneanother.

In one embodiment, the communications between computer 120 and devices105 and 110 are accomplished via radio signals and the communicationsbetween device 131 and computer 120 are accomplished via network 135. Inone embodiment, the connected between network 135 and device 131 istelephony call such that device 105, which may not be a telephone,places a phone call to device 131, which is a telephone, via theobservation platform. In such an embodiment, network 135 may compriseboth a computer network and a phone network or cloud.

In one embodiment, device 131 and/or region 176 may be physically remoterelative to radio base station 115. For example, all the componentsshown within region 175 may be located within radio range of one anotherat a first location, but device 131 and region 176 are located at asecond and third location outside of region 175. These first, second andthird locations may be separated by any length of distance. The secondor third location may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away fromthe first location or may be less than a mile away but still outside ofregion 175. In one embodiment, computer 120 and radio base station 115are located at a first physical address such as a street address for abuilding or other physical location, device 131 is located at a secondphysical address, and computer 121 and radio base station 116 arelocated at a third physical address.

In one embodiment, computer 120 and radio base station 115 areassociated with a retail environment and region 175 includes the retailfloor as well as an office or other area designated for associates,managers, or employees of the retail environment. However, computer 121and radio base station 116 are located in region 176 are located at asecond retail environment. The first and second retail environments maybe related to one another such as both being a franchise of the samebusiness or enterprise. Thus, a customer or associate may be located inregion 175 associated with a first franchise, e.g. a first observationplatform, and speak with an associate using device 111 in a secondfranchise, e.g., a second observation platform. The customer orassociate may ask questions regarding the inventory of an item at thesecond franchise or speak with an associate at the second franchise thathas knowledge not known by associates at the first franchise.

In one embodiment, where region 175 and region 176 each compriseseparate observation platforms, the present technology is employed tomanage and observe the observation platforms. For example, applications1314 of FIG. 13 may be employed with the observation platforms. Theseapplications allow for the scalability of observation platforms suchthat a single user may have access to the data from a plurality ofobservation platforms and the ability to send messages to all or some ofthe devices associated with the observation platforms simultaneously ina scheduled transmission.

With reference now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of an environment 200 forstructuring communications in an environment. Environment 200 includesradio base station 115, computer 120, users 205, 210, 215, 220, 225,230, and 235, structure 240, area 245, area 250, radio devices 255 and260 and user 265. Environment 200 comprises components that may or maynot be used with different embodiments of the present technology andshould not be construed to limit the present technology.

Environment 200 depicts a setting in which the present technology may beemployed. Environment 200 may be, but is not limited to, retailsettings, public-stage floors, outdoor venues, concerts, policescenarios, disaster areas, and other environments where communicationsoccur between users. Areas 245 and 250 are depicted as being enclosed.However, the present technology may be implemented in an outdoor orindoor environment or a combination of the two. Users 205, 210, 215,220, 225, 230, and 235 are depicted as each holding a device such asdevice 105 of FIG. 1. The devices do not necessarily need to behandheld. Users 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, and 235 may be a varietyof different types of users. For example, the users may be associatesand customers intermingled in a retail setting. Area 245 may be theretail floor while area 250 is a back office or other area designatedfor associates, managers, or employees of the retail environment.

Structure 240 may be a display, shelves, aisle divider, or otherstructure that physically separates spaces in area 245. For example,users 205, 210, and 215 are depicted as being in separate space of area245 than users 220, 225, 230, and 235. Computer 120 may be able tointeract with users 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, and 235 and determinethe user's geographic locations as well as act as a central hub for allcommunications between the users. In one embodiment, computer 120recognizes a group of users associated with communication devices. Thegroup may be based on a classification or type of user or may be basedon a location of said users. In one example, computer 120 recognizesthat users 205, 215, 230, and 235 are associates and users 210, 220, and225 are customers in a retail setting. The associates may be considereda first group and the customers a second group. In a second example,computer 120 recognizes that users 205, 210, and 215 are a first groupin a separate space of area 245 than the second group of users 220, 225,230, and 235. Computer 120 may then employ the recognition of groups togenerate visual representations of features of the group and itscommunications. It should be appreciated that groups can simultaneouslyexist in many locations and are not constrained by building walls orgeography.

In one embodiment, environment 200 comprises radio devices 255 and 260used for communication with user devices and radio base station 115.Radio devices 255 and 260 may or may not be networked with radio basestation 115 to provide additional coverage or range for radio basestation 115. For example, radio devices 255 and 260 may be antennas orradio repeaters for radio base station 115. In one embodiment, radiodevices 255 and 260 are wireless routers for computer networking.Computer 120 may employ radio devices 255 and 260 to determine ageographic location of a user. Radio devices 255 and 260 andtransceivers 145, 150 and 155 may each have the same capabilities andfeatures as one another.

The geographic location or position of a user may be determined bycomputer 120 receiving periodic clues or evidence of the geographiclocation of the user device and then computer 120 infers or deduces thegeographic location based on the evidence or clues. For example, theuser device associated with user 205 may receive a plurality of signalsfrom radio base station 115 and radio devices 255 and 260. Each signalhas a unique signature at the current position of user 205. Thesignatures of each source are periodically sent to computer 120 or as acomponent characteristic of any communication. Computer 120 may thendetermine the geographic position of user 205 based on the signatures ofeach source and the known location of the sources e.g., radio basestation 115 and radio devices 255 and 260. In one embodiment, the userdevice knows its geographic position based on geographic positioncomponent which is part of the user device. The geographic positioncomponent may be a component device or chip that employs the globalpositing system, other satellite navigation system, inferred signals,radio signals or RFID signals for determining a geographic location orposition. A user device with a geographic position component maytransmit the determined geographic position to computer 120 periodicallyor as part of a communication. Thus computer 120 may know the locationof a user at a given time based on the geographic position of the deviceassociated with the user.

In one embodiment, user 265 interfaces with computer 120 to use thepresent technology to optimize communications. Computer 120 maydetermine and display performance metrics or visual representationsregarding communications to user 265. User 265 may then use theperformance metrics and visual representations to make decisions. Forexample, user 265 may be a manager of associates who can identify that acustomer has asked for assistance at a given location but no associateshave responded. The manager may then use the present technology torequest an associated to assist the customer. In one embodiment, user265 is able to directly use computer 120 and radio base station 115 tocommunicate with other users by individual identification, locationgroupings or contextual groupings.

In one embodiment, user 265 interfaces with computer 120 to use thepresent technology to optimize geographic location. User 265 may be acustomer and requests help from computer 120. Computer 120 determinesthe associate nearest the location of user 265 and provides the currentand updated location of user 265 until intercepted by the associate. Inone embodiment, user 265 may request help verbally, not engagingcomputer 120, and that request is heard by all nearby associates whosecontext is “not engaged with shoppers.”

In one embodiment, computer 120 derives performance metrics, businessmetric or metric from the communications between users. The metrics maybe used to generate visual representations. The metrics and/or visualrepresentations may be employed to make decisions. The metrics andvisual representations may be sent to another computer system or device.A metric may be based on the behavior of a user, the context of theuser, information carried by the tone and quality of voice, and theuser's spoken or signaled communications.

A sales performance metric may be determined by linking sales withusers, measuring busy (or “engaged with shopper”) times of users, andascertaining busy status of user. The busy status of a user may indicatethat the user is engaged in a communication, a task, assisting acustomer or otherwise occupied. A response time metric may also bedetermined by measuring the time it takes to answer a user's question,or how long it takes to receive assistance after asking for it. Acustomer satisfaction metric may also be derived based on the text ofthe customer's communication. A task performance metric may bedetermined by measuring the length of time an associate is currentlyengaged in performing said task, including noting pending and completedtasks. Metrics may be used by a manager to reward good behavior orcorrect undesired behavior. Additionally, because the communications andother audio information have been recorded, the communications may beused in training as examples.

Visual representations may be described as communication trafficintensity maps between users and/or groups such as who talks to whom,how frequently and at what time of day; who asks questions and whoresponds; who responds to tasks, when and how long it took to respond;and who has listened to which training podcasts, where they listened andwhen. Visual representations may also be described as location maps suchas, a status of when users indicate that they are engaged, busy oravailable, when users ask questions; quiet areas where no communicationsor engagements are occurring; where users are not located; where sellingtips were left and by whom; location-based-tasks and the times it takesto complete them; a path of where users have traveled geographically;and a map of the environment. With this observation platform forstructuring communications, a more complete observation of many of theevents in the interaction between and among all users can be observed,cataloged, and analyzed, providing a great deal of useful information toany manager of the overall process.

With reference now to FIG. 13, a block diagram of an environment 1300for a content distribution manager for scalability of observationplatforms. Environment 1300 depicts multiple components and as a wholemay be described as a content distribution manager. Specifically,content distribution manager browser 1304 depicts a browser that may bean interface that controls the tools of the content distribution managerincluding tools such as message scheduler 1322 and message broker 1324.Environment 1300 comprises components that may or may not be used withdifferent embodiments of the present technology and should not beconstrued to limit the present technology.

The right column of environment 1300 refers to observation platforms1330 which specifically comprises observation platforms 1332, 1334, and1336. It should be appreciated that observation platforms 1332, 1334,and 1336 have the same capabilities and features of the observationplatforms described in FIGS. 1A-1C and 2. Moreover, observationplatforms 1330 may refer to the three depicted observation platforms butmay also describe any number of observation platforms such as hundredsor thousands of observation platforms. In other words, the presenttechnology may be used to manage, observe, measure, control, andotherwise operate with any number of observation platforms thusassociating a large group of observation platforms with one another andproviding for scalability in the management and use of a large number ofobservation platforms.

Each of observation platforms 1332, 1334, and 1336 are depicted withthree devices, devices 1338, 1340, 1342, 1344, 1346, 1348, 1350, 1352,and 1354 respectively. It should be appreciated that and observationplatforms 1332, 1334, and 1336 may have any number of devices associatedwith them and will likely have more than three devices associated withthem. Devices 1338, 1340, 1342, 1344, 1346, 1348, 1350, 1352, and 1354have all of the same features and capabilities of devices 105, 110, and130 of FIG. 1C.

The left column of environment 1300 depicts applications 1314. Thecomponents of applications 1314 may refer to applications executing on acomputer system or systems but may also refer to specific purposedevices built for the present technology. In an embodiment where one ofapplications 1314 refers specifically to an application, the applicationis carried out on a hardware computing device or devices and may makeuse of cloud computing techniques.

In one embodiment, web portal 1302 refers to a web portal or serviceportal that is employed by a user to configure a local observationplatform and the policies therein. Web portal 1302 may be used to changenetwork passwords and add remove, or reassign employees and theirdevices within the observation platform. Web portal 1302 may also beused to create groups within the observation platform. For example, allof the devices that are used by a department such as the plumbingdepartment in a hardware store may be placed in a group via the webportal 1302.

In one embodiment, groupings may be determined by any of thecharacteristics determined by the context information of the users byeach observation platform(s) and aggregated in the content distributionmanagers, such as: location, motion, communications patters or currentuser activity; or by pre-assigned roles, responsibilities or functions,such as: plumbing experts, register trained employees, housekeeping, ormarketing executives. For example, a change in return policy may becommunicated to all register trained employees as they arrive to theregister area and must be acknowledged so that the web portal shows whohas heard the message, where and when they heard the message, and whereand when they verbally acknowledged the receipt.

In one embodiment, web portal 1302 is a software application that isaccessed via a uniform resource locator (URL) by any computing devicethat employs a web browser. Web portal 1302 may comprise an applicationprogram interface (API) or graphical interface that is employed by auser of web portal 1302. A user of web portal 1302 may be required toprovide authentication to access web portal 1302. In one embodiment, webportal 1302 has different levels of authentication allowing differentusers different levels of access each with differing levels of access orabilities to configure the observation platform. For example, localpolicies of observation platform may be configured by web portal 1302.In one embodiment, web portal 1302 is employed by users who are locallyassociated with the specific observation platform as the web portal 1302provides access and control that may only be of interest to a localuser. For example, the local user may be a technical support specialistor store manager located within the physical environment associated withobservation platform. In one embodiment, the user of web portal 1302 maybe a technical support specialist associated with a plurality ofobservation platforms and is contacted by a local user of the specificobservation platform and asked for assistance with configuring thespecific observation platform.

In one embodiment, web portal 1302 may be hosted or executed on computersystems local to the specific observation platform in which web portal1302 is used to configure. In one embodiment, web portal 1302 is hostedor executed on computer system physically remote to an observationplatform and is located in cloud services 1316. Web portal 1302 may belocated in cloud services 1316 and designed to configure any number ofdifferent observation platforms.

In one embodiment, content distribution manager browser 1304 is asoftware application that is accessed via a uniform resource locator(URL) by any computing device that employs a web browser. Contentdistribution manager browser 1304 may comprise an application programinterface (API) or graphical interface that is employed by a user ofcontent distribution manager browser 1304. A user of contentdistribution manager browser 1304 may be required to provideauthentication to access content distribution manager browser 1304.

Content distribution manager browser 1304 is employed by a user tomanage and control messages that are sent to a plurality of observationplatform and the devices therein. In one embodiment, contentdistribution manager browser 1304 can retrieve content for a message orcan be employed to generate new and original content for a message. Inone embodiment, the content is an audio file such as a WAV file that isthe recording of an audible voice such that when the message isdelivered to and accessed by a destination device, the message willplayback the audible voice. The content distribution manager browser1304 may be employed by a manager to record a voice message which isthen delivered to a plurality of devices.

In one embodiment, a message controlled by content distribution managerbrowser 1304 is delivered to a plurality of devices simultaneously. Thismay be accomplished by content distribution manager browser 1304 sendingout the message to the various devices at the same time, or contentdistribution manager browser 1304 may deliver the message to a pluralityof observation platforms with commands or instructions to deliver themessage to specified devices within the observation platform at adesignated time. Delivering the messages to the devices may also bedescribed as pushing the message. The manager using the contentdistribution manager browser 1304 may designate the time a messageshould be available for the users and how long that message should beavailable to hear (end time). Alternatively, the content distributionmanager browser 1304 may be employed to deliver the same message todifferent devices at different times. For example, the message may bedelivered to store managers within observation platforms at a designatedtime before the message is delivered to other employees within the sameobservation platforms. The user of content distribution manager browser1304 may also specify that additional content or messages are sent todifferent devices. For example, additional content may be sent to storemanagers or additional content may be sent to devices associated with aspecific department in a retail setting such as the painting department.

In one embodiment, content distribution manager browser 1304 is employedto specify who or what devices are to receive the message with itscontent. For example, the user of content distribution manager browser1304 may have authority over several different environments each withits own observation platform. The user may wish that the message only besent to specified observation platforms within the plurality ofobservation platforms. Alternatively, the user may specify that all ofthe devices within all of the observation platforms receive the message,or only devices located within the physical boundaries of theobservation platform at the designated time receive the message, or onlydevices associated with a specific department receive the message oronly devices associated with store employees and not customers receivethe message. The possible options for specifying which devices receive amessage and when are limitless. A message may also be generated and sentto a specific individual. In one embodiment, content distributionmanager browser 1304 employs the groups created by web portal 1302 todetermine which devices a message may be sent to. It should beappreciated that the content of the message may be a voice recording butmay also be other content such as text, images, or video. In oneembodiment, the message is sent to a given device with a command tonotify the user of the device that there is a message received. Thenotification may be a light, a blinking light, a specific color oflight, a sound, a textual notification, or any other type ofnotification that the device is capable of providing.

Content distribution manager browser 1304 may be employed by a user thathas high level access to the plurality of observation platforms. Forexample, a corporation may have hundreds or thousands of hospitalitylocations or store fronts that each makes use of an observationplatform. The corporation may have a headquarters or central office withemployees who have access to content distribution manager browser 1304with the ability and authority to send a message to anyone and everyoneassociated with the corporation.

In one embodiment, a device that receives a message from contentdistribution manager browser 1304 automatically sends a confirmationback to content distribution manager browser 1304 that the message hasbeen received. Additionally, once the message has been accessed or heardby the user of the device, the device may send a message back to contentdistribution manager browser 1304 that the messaged has been heard orotherwise accessed. In one embodiment, the message may be a mandatorymessage that the user of the device is required to access and listen to.For example, process 1200 herein describes various embodiments ofmandatory messages and consequences, rules or policies associated withmandatory messages.

In one embodiment, manager application 1306 a software application orapp that is accessed via a mobile computer system such as a smart phoneor tablet. In one embodiment, the mobile computer system executes anAndroid operating system. In one embodiment, the mobile computer systemexecutes an iOS operating system. Other operating systems may also beemployed. Manager application 1306 may be an app available for downloadand installation on the mobile computer system. The manager application1306 is designed with an API or graphical interface specific to a mobilecomputer system such as a smart phone and to be used in the field by auser or manager associated with at least one observation platform. Theuser of manager application 1306 may be a regional manager that hasaccess to a plurality of observation platforms. The regional manager mayregularly travel between the physical locations of the plurality ofobservation platforms and needs to have access to the observationplatforms while physically remote and in the field on the go.

In one embodiment, manager application 1306 allows the user of managerapplication 1306 to communicate with or monitor any device or pluralityof devices within any of the observation platforms associated with theuser. Manager application 1306 also is able to report statistics orobserve or monitor communications with any of the observation platformsassociated with the user. For example, the manager application 1306 maybe able to listen in to communications happening in real time within anobservation platform or may be able to play back past recordedcommunications. In one embodiment, the manager application may operatein a manner identical to the mobile devices in the observation platformas a peer-like device. In this mode the manager application maybroadcast or direct communications to specific devices, receive alertsand provide both a primary signal for communication and a secondarysignal for determining geographic location. In one embodiment, thepeer-like device may be able to operate and interact with devices withinan observation platform without directly communicating with a centralcomputer system. In other words, the central computer system may or maynot be required for receiving and relaying messages from the managerapplication. The manager application 1306 may also be employed to sendannouncements or messages similar to content distribution managerbrowser 1304. The manager application 1306 may communicate directlythrough a network with a given observation platform or may use cloudservices 1316 and gateway 1326 to communicate with a given observationplatform.

In one embodiment, log-on tool 1308 is a software application that isaccessed via a uniform resource locator (URL) by any computing devicethat employs a web browser. Log-on tool 1308 may comprise an applicationprogram interface (API) or graphical interface that is employed by auser of log-on tool 1308. In one embodiment, log-on tool 1308 isemployed by a user of a device in an observation platform that is havingtrouble logging onto the observation platform verbally.

In one embodiment, support manager 1310 is a software application thatis accessed via a uniform resource locator (URL) by any computing devicethat employs a web browser. Support manager 1310 may comprise anapplication program interface (API) or graphical interface that isemployed by a user of support manager 1310. Support manager 1310 is atool for a user to see network and system performance metrics, observewho was talking to whom, hear all or selected communications, respond inreal-time with spoken responses, collect and play messages, and/or makeand summarize real-time performance/user activities to determine trendsor generate alarms Support manager 1310 also keeps track of all deviceswithin the observation platform as well as technical details such as theconnection point a device is using, where the device is located withinthe physical boundaries of the observation platform, battery state ofthe device and if charged, where user has volume set for a device,environmental noise and sounds, and tracks communications and messages.In one embodiment, support manager 1310 has an alarming feature thatmines relational database 1318 in the cloud and creates alarms ormanipulates relational database to create alarms after detecting ananomaly. It should be appreciated that support manager 1310 is designedto be used by a store help desk so they know what is going on in atechnical way, a support center supporting a plurality of observationplatforms, or an escalation center capable of troubleshooting andcorrecting more complex issues.

In one embodiment, third party apps and computer systems 1312 refers tosoftware applications and computer system created by third parties to beimplemented within the observation platform(s). For example, a thirdparty may create an application that makes use of the data generated bythe observation platform. Such software may then sends results, reports,alarms, or other data back to the users within the observation platformor to the web portal for decision support, action planning orcoordinating immediate actions within the observation platform(s).

In one embodiment, third party apps and computer systems 1312 refers toother software applications and computer system created by third partiesto be implemented within the observation platform(s). This third partyapplication may make use of externally derived data that is relevant tothe operation of the enterprise which needs to be communicated to groupsof observation platforms or groups of uses in near-real-time per thepolicies of the enterprise. For example, door counter or video derivedtraffic information may be used to alert a group of uses within anobservation platform that action is necessary to improve coordination onthe floor. Additionally, this third-party application information may beaggregated within the content distribution manager so that managers,district managers, regional managers or enterprise executives mayoverview patterns of operations between a plurality of observationplatforms.

In one embodiment, cloud services 1316 refers to cloud computingtechniques and hardware that may be employed in cloud configuration 1328to assist observation platforms and embodiments of the presenttechnology. Relational database 1318 may be located in cloud services1316 and comprises data generated and related to one or more observationplatforms. Platform configurations 1320 refers to configurations thatmay be default configurations and policies to be implemented and used bya specific observation platform. Message scheduler 1322 and messagebroker 1324 may be software applications located in cloud services 1316and employed by content distribution manager browser 1304 and managerapplication 1306 as well as other applications in applications 1314 tosend and/or receive messages to/from devices located in observationplatforms 1330. Gateway 1326 is a security gateway located in cloudservices 1316 and is employed to ensure that only authorized programsand users have access to the observation platforms.

Operations of Using Structured Communications in an Observation Platformand Content Distribution and Data Aggregation for Scalability ofObservation Platforms

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating process 300 for using structuredcommunication in an observation platform in accordance with oneembodiment of the present technology. Process 300 may also be describedas disciplining communications in an observation platform. In oneembodiment, process 300 is a computer implemented method that is carriedout by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 300 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. In one embodiment, the methods mayreside in a computer usable storage medium having instructions embodiedtherein that when executed cause a computer system to perform themethod.

At 302, a signal from a first communication device is received at asecond communication device associated with a computer system, wherein afirst characteristic of the signal corresponds to an audible source anda second characteristic of the signal corresponds to informationindicative of a geographic position of the first communication device.Additional characteristics of the signal may include contextualinformation and environmental information. For example, the audiblesource may be the voice of a user, the signal characteristics mayinclude signal signature information and contextual/environmentalinformation may include user status (e.g., engaged or on-break) and/orbackground noise levels.

At 304, a first user associated with the first communication device isrecognized at the computer system.

At 306, context information for the signal is derived at the computersystem associated with the second communication device. The contextinformation may be geographic information, data regarding length or timeof communication, or text of the communication. In one embodiment,speech to text recognition techniques are employed to covert an audiblecommunication to text. In one embodiment, the context information is acommand for the computer system to perform. In one embodiment, thesignal is encrypted or encoded uniquely with respect to the firstcommunication device. The context information may be a command to thecomputer system. For example the computer system may be commanded toaccess a database in response to a query or may be given information tostore for future reference.

In one embodiment, the information is a command and the command may beissued verbally by a user in a communication. For example, a user mayspeak into a communication device the phrase “hello everybody” thus thecommunication is the spoken phrase and the computer system may derivethat the communication is to be sent to everybody. The computer systemthen relays the signal to everybody associated with the communicationobservation platform. In another example, the communication may be thephrase “hello Bob.” The computer system derives that the destination ofthe communication is Bob; the communication is then relayed only to Bob.

The Table below shows examples of Communication Phrases and DerivedContext information. Specific examples using sample vocabulary are givenas well as more general cases indicated by the brackets [ ].

Communication Phrase Derived Context Information “Hello Everybody” Thecommunication is to be relayed to a Hello [Group] group defined as“everybody” and anyone may respond. Context information such as“engaged” may limit those who hear and may respond to the “Hello”phrase. “Hello Bob” The communication is to be relayed to an Hello[Person] individual identified as “Bob” and only “Bob” hears the messageand is able to respond. Context information such as “engaged” may resultin the computer providing additional information to the caller such asthe state of the user (e.g., “engaged”) and other factors such aslocation. “Hello Workshop” The communication is to be relayed to Hello[Location] everyone associated with the “Workshop” location. Contextinformation such as “engaged” may limit those who hear and may respondto the “Hello” phrase. “Hello Process Experts” The communication isrelayed to all identified Hello [Group] as the group, “Process Experts.”These people or machines may be physically located in any region orenvironment. Context information such as “engaged” may limit those whohear and may respond to the “Hello” phrase. “Urgent Bob” or Thecommunication is an urgent “Interrupt Bob” communication to be relayedto “Bob.” Such Interrupt [Person] a command may interrupt “Bob” if he isInterrupt [Group] “engaged” or communicating with others or Interrupt[Location] the system as defined by the operator of the environment.Once interrupted, communication is between the caller and original user(i.e., Bob) and may or may not include others who may have been talkingwith Bob at the time. “Message Bob” Leaves a message that persists for apre- Message [Person] determined interval. Messages for groups Message[Group] are heard as persons become available. Message [Location]Messages for locations are heard as persons become available or enterthe location area. Special cases for ‘messages” include delivering audioinformation to groups such as Marketing Departments, Buyers, Help Desks,Websites, Technical Support or Product improvement requests.“Announcement The communication is to be relayed to Everybody”“everyone” as a bulletin. Those users who Announcement [Group] areengaged or not yet on the system will hear the bulletin when they becomeavailable. “Selling tip for the side The communication is to be relayedto those hallway” who are within or enter the side hallway asAnnouncement an announcement. No response is [Location] anticipated.“Absolute The communication is delivered to all who Announcement for areavailable and in the proper context. A Maintenance Team” response ismandatory. The system records Absolute Announcement the time, location,user and spoken response [Group] or [Location] or for later analysis orstorage. [Person] “Where is Steve” The communication is a command toWhere is [Person] determine a geographic location of Steve Where is[Group] and to send a message back to the communication device from thecomputer system that speaks the response. The response may also includecontextual information such as “Steve is available” or Steve is engaged”or other information from other sources such as “Steve is on break.”Steve does not need to hear that his status was being probed, althoughit is possible to alert him. “Who is near the central The communicationis a command to hallway” determine who is geographically located nearWho is near [Location] the central hallway region and to send a messageback to the communication device from the computer system that speaksthe response. The response may include additional contextual informationfor the persons in that location. “Go to simple menu” The communicationis a command for the Command [profile] computer system to go to thesimple menu profile and to send a message back that speaks the phrase“you will now go to simple menu.” This feature allows individual usersto move into different command, control and skill level profiles withinthe system. “Does anyone know if Some formats of commands are natural towe have . . .?” the users, but not is a structured speech Spoken Stringpattern. In this case, the words, “Does anyone know . . .” may triggerthe computer to send this message to group of people who know wherethings are. Additional contextual information may limit that group to adepartment or location.

The phrase “Go to simple menu” may be a command to enter a differentmenu structure for such activities as new-user learning, learning aboutproducts or business, listening to communications, or set-up functionssuch as group participation and default settings for the individual.

At 308, a geographic location of the first communication device isdetermined based on the second characteristic of the signal and at leastone other source of information. For example, the at least one othersource of information may be a router that the signal is routed through,a signal strength of the signal, information from the secondcommunication device, etc.

At 310, a copy of at least one characteristic of the signal is stored ina storage medium and is made available for performance metric analysis.In one embodiment, the performance metrics are key performance metrics.At least one characteristic may be, but is not limited to, a time stamp,engaged, available status, a message, a voice file, a location, a signalsignature, a type of message, text corresponding to a message, commandsused to initiate the message, other contextual information about theuser and an identity of the path the signal was routed through.

At 312, instructions are received at the computer system comprisingrules for the relaying the signal to the destination derived from thecontext information. The rules may instruct to whom and to how thecommunication is to be relayed. For example, information derived from acommunication may command that the communication be sent to everyoneassociated with the geographic location of “Workshop.” However, therules may instruct that the communication is only relayed to thoseassociated with the “Workshop” who are designated as available or notbusy. The rules may also comprise a predetermined time or a lifetime inwhich a response may be relayed to an available communication device.

At 314, the signal is relayed to a destination derived from the contextinformation. The destination may be another user or a plurality of useror the computer system itself. The destination may be located outside ofa radio range associated with the second communication device or beotherwise physically remote relative to the second communication device.

At 316, a data entry and visual representation is generated indicatingthe geographic position of the first communication device with respectto a geographic environment in which the first communication device islocated. For example, the visual representation may be a map depictingthe location of users or where users have been. The data entry andvisual representation may include a status indicator of the user such aswhether the user is busy or available.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating process 400 for using a structuredcommunication in an observation platform in accordance with oneembodiment of the present technology. In one embodiment, process 400 isa computer implemented method that is carried out by processors andelectrical components under the control of computer usable and computerexecutable instructions. The computer usable and computer executableinstructions reside, for example, in data storage features such ascomputer usable volatile and non-volatile memory. However, the computerusable and computer executable instructions may reside in any type ofnon-transitory computer usable storage medium. In one embodiment,process 400 is performed by the components of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. Inone embodiment, the methods may reside in a computer usable storagemedium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause acomputer system to perform the method.

At 402, a signal from a first communication device is received at asecond communication device, wherein a first characteristic of thesignal corresponds to a voice of a first user and a secondcharacteristic of the signal corresponds to information indicative of ageographic position of the first communication device. Additionalcharacteristics of the signal may include contextual information andenvironmental information. For example, the audible source may be thevoice of a user, the signal characteristics may include signal signatureinformation and contextual/environmental information may include userstatus (e.g., engaged or on-break) and/or background noise levels.

At 404, the first user associated with the first communication device isrecognized.

At 406, text or machine code related to the voice of the first user isrecognized.

At 408, context information from the text or machine code is derived ata computer system associated with the second communication device,wherein the context information corresponds to a command related to thetext or machine code.

At 410, the text or machine code is stored in a storage medium fordeveloping performance metrics.

At 412, the signal is relayed to a destination derived from the contextinformation. The destination may be located outside of a radio rangeassociated with the second communication device or be otherwisephysically remote relative to the second communication device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating process 500 for observing andrecording users of communication devices in accordance with oneembodiment of the present technology. In one embodiment, process 500 isa computer implemented method that is carried out by processors andelectrical components under the control of computer usable and computerexecutable instructions. The computer usable and computer executableinstructions reside, for example, in data storage features such ascomputer usable volatile and non-volatile memory. However, the computerusable and computer executable instructions may reside in any type ofnon-transitory computer usable storage medium. In one embodiment,process 500 is performed by the components of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. Inone embodiment, the methods may reside in a computer usable storagemedium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause acomputer system to perform the method.

In one embodiment, process 500 is a management observation tool forkeeping track of mobile human resources and collecting data on theiractivities.

At 502, a first user associated with a first communication device and asecond user associated with a second communication device are recognizedat a central computer system.

At 504, geographic locations of the first communication device and thesecond communication device are tracked at the central computer system.In one embodiment, tracking means storing data about location and anyspoken information.

At 506, a communication between the first communication device and thesecond communication device are tracked and recorded at the centralcomputer system, wherein at least a portion of the communication is anaudible communication.

At 508, features of the communication are identified at the centralcomputer system. Features may be described as characteristics or dataregarding the communication itself. The features may be user status suchas engaged/available, location of a user, communication history of theuser, context of the communication, keywords used in the communication,a classification of the communication, and time stamps.

At 510, the features are made available to a manager, operations staffor operations machines for making decisions or informing the users thatnew actions are requested.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating process 600 for characterizingcommunications in a group of users in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present technology. In one embodiment, process 600 is a computerimplemented method that is carried out by processors and electricalcomponents under the control of computer usable and computer executableinstructions. The computer usable and computer executable instructionsreside, for example, in data storage features such as computer usablevolatile and non-volatile memory. However, the computer usable andcomputer executable instructions may reside in any type ofnon-transitory computer usable storage medium. In one embodiment,process 600 is performed by the components of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. Inone embodiment, the methods may reside in a computer usable storagemedium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause acomputer system to perform the method.

At 602, a group of users is recognized, at a computer system, whereineach user of the group of users are associated with communicationdevices. The group of users may be recognized based on a classificationof the user or a geographic location of the users. For example, aclassification of the users may be whether the user is an associate or acustomer in a retail setting.

At 604, a communication between the communication devices is recorded atthe computer system, wherein at least a portion of the communication isan audible communication. In one embodiment, at least a portion of thecommunication is a pre-recorded audible communication.

At 606, geographic locations of the communication devices are recordedat the computer system. The location may be determined based on signalsignatures or other “clues” from other devices sent periodically or withthe communication indicative of the location.

At 608, features are identified based upon the communication. Featuresmay be described as characteristic or data regarding the communicationitself. The features may be a user status such as engaged/available,location of a user, communication history of the user, context of thecommunication, a classification of the communication, a frequency ofcommunications between two users, a length of a communication, keywordsused in the communication, a response time to a communication and timestamps.

At 610, a visual representation of the features is generated at thecomputer system. The visual representation may depict when a user ofsaid group of users is engaged in said communication, when a user ofsaid group of users asks a question in said communication, who respondsto the question, where each user of said group of users are located, andwhere said group of users are not located. Alerts, either visual orverbal, may be generated depending on the rules established by thesystem operators.

At 612, the visual representation is made available to a manager,operations staff or operations machines for making decisions orinforming the users that new actions are requested.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating process 700 for using structuredcommunication in a plurality of observation platforms in accordance withone embodiment of the present technology. Process 700 may also bedescribed as disciplining communications in an observation platform. Inone embodiment, process 700 is a computer implemented method that iscarried out by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 700 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. In one embodiment, the methods mayreside in a computer usable storage medium having instructions embodiedtherein that when executed cause a computer system to perform themethod.

At 702, a signal in a first observation platform is received from afirst communication device at a second communication device associatedwith a computer system wherein a first characteristic of the signalcorresponds to an audible source and a second characteristic of thesignal corresponds to information indicative of a geographic position ofthe first communication device, and wherein the second observationplatform is associated with a radio range. Additional characteristics ofthe signal may include contextual information and environmentalinformation. For example, the audible source may be the voice of a user,the signal characteristics may include signal signature information andcontextual/environmental information may include user status (e.g.,engaged or on-break) and/or background noise levels.

At 704, a first user associated with the first communication device isrecognized at the computer system.

At 706, context information for the signal is derived at the computersystem associated with the second communication device. The contextinformation may be geographic information, data regarding length or timeof communication, or text of the communication. In one embodiment,speech to text recognition techniques are employed to covert an audiblecommunication to text. In one embodiment, the context information is acommand for the computer system to perform. In one embodiment, thesignal is encrypted or encoded uniquely with respect to the firstcommunication device. The context information may be a command to thecomputer system. For example the computer system may be commanded toaccess a database in response to a query.

At 708, the signal is relayed from the computer system to a secondcomputer system associated with a second observation platform via acomputer network

At 710, the signal is relayed to a destination in the second observationplatform via the second computer system derived from said contextinformation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating process 800 for performing structuredcommunications in an observation platform in accordance with oneembodiment of the present technology. Process 800 may also be describedas disciplining communications in an observation platform. In oneembodiment, process 800 is a computer implemented method that is carriedout by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 800 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. In one embodiment, the methods mayreside in a computer usable storage medium having instructions embodiedtherein that when executed cause a computer system to perform themethod.

At 802, a signal is received from a first communication device at asecond communication device associated with a computer system, whereinthe computer system is associated with an organization, wherein a firstcharacteristic of the signal corresponds to an audible source and asecond characteristic of the signal corresponds to informationindicative of a geographic position of the first communication device.Additional characteristics of the signal may include contextualinformation and environmental information. For example, the audiblesource may be the voice of a user, the signal characteristics mayinclude signal signature information and contextual or environmentalinformation may include user status (e.g., engaged or on-break) and/orbackground noise levels. The organization may be a retail environment, aschool, an event, a military organization, a prison organization,customer service, manufacturing organization, a factory, a disasterresponse team, or any environment where humans interact with one anotherto accomplish a purpose. The first communication device may be ahandheld device that is capable of sending and receiving signals and maycomprise a display, a microphone and a speaker. The first communicationdevice may be owned by the organization and issued to the user or may bethe user's personal property such as a smart phone executing anapplication. The second communication device may be a radio base stationas described herein.

At 804, a user is identified as associated with the first communicationdevice at the computer system. In one embodiment, 804 only identifiesthat there is a user employing the communication device. The actualidentity of the user may remain anonymous to the computer system or theuser may be identified. The user may be identified using one or acombination of several different techniques. The user may be identifiedvia a unique signature of the communication device associated with theuser. For example, the user's communication device may be a smart phonerunning an application. The smart phone may be the user's personalproperty and is always associated with the user. In one embodiment, theuser may be authenticated upon activation of the communication device orthe application. For example, a user may enter an environment, activatea communication device and then give user credentials that identify theuser. This may accomplished via voice commands or text inputs. In oneembodiment, the user credentials are associated with a user profile, butthe actual identity of the user remains anonymous. In one embodiment,the user may activate a communication device and self-identify.Identifying a user may be automatic taking place without the user'sknowledge, or may require the user to acknowledge or give permission forthe computer system to identify the user.

At 806, the audible source of the signal is converted to text or machineunderstandable language at the computer system. This may occur usingspeech-to-text techniques or other techniques employed by computersystems.

At 808, a query related to the organization is derived based on the textor understanding at the computer system. The query may be any number ofqueries from the user. The user may ask for general assistance or mayask a more specific question such as whether an item is in stock, wherean item is located, what sales are taking place, technical details orfeatures regarding an item.

At 810, a response to the query is compiled at the computer system,wherein the response represents the organization. For example, theresponse relates to the purpose of the organization. In one embodiment,the response is regarding a location or status of a person or an itemwithin the organization. The computer system may access a database tocomplete the response. The database maybe a local database such as aninventory of a local store, or may access a database in part of a largernetwork associated with the organization, or may access a databaseassociated with the Internet. In one embodiment, the computer systemperforms a key word search of the Internet using a search engine tocomplete the response.

At 812, the response is sent to the first communication device, whereinthe response is audible at the first communication device. In oneembodiment, the response is initially a text response that is convertedfrom text to speech. The conversion may occur at the computer systemsuch that a signal with an audible portion is sent to the firstcommunication device, or a text message may be sent to the firstcommunication device where it is converted to speech. The response maybe recorded by the organization in a computer system and may also besent to a person associated with the organization such as a manager orassociated. Thus, a person associated with the business may monitor theresponses of the computer system and may be aware of the needs orrequirements of the user associated with the first communication device.

At 814, a prior user history of the user is associated with the firstcommunication device. The user history may be a user profile that may ormay not identify the user. The history may have a list of all thetransactions of this user associated with the organization. The historymay also comprise information provided by the user such as likes anddislikes or preferences regarding which person the user wishes to beserved by while in the organization.

At 816, the signal and the response are relayed to a third communicationdevice associated with a person representing the organization. Theperson associated with the organization may be a consultant, anemployee, an associate, a sales associate, a civil servant, a volunteeror a manager. The third communication device may be a handheld deviceand may or may not be the same type of device as the first communicationdevice.

At 818, a second response is received at the second communication devicefrom the third communication device. For example, the personrepresenting the organization may respond using a signal that may havean audible voice portion a text portion or both.

At 820, the second response is relayed to the first communicationdevice. The computer system may initiate a virtual voice connectionbetween the first communication device and the second communicationdevice.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating process 900 for performing structuredcommunications in an observation platform in accordance with oneembodiment of the present technology. Process 900 may also be describedas disciplining communications in an observation platform. In oneembodiment, process 900 is a computer implemented method that is carriedout by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 900 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. In one embodiment, the methods mayreside in a computer usable storage medium having instructions embodiedtherein that when executed cause a computer system to perform themethod.

At 902, a signal is received from a first communication device at asecond communication device associated with a computer system, whereinthe computer system is associated with an organization, wherein a firstcharacteristic of the signal corresponds to an audible source and asecond characteristic of the signal corresponds to informationindicative of a geographic position of the first communication device.Additional characteristics of the signal may include contextualinformation and environmental information. For example, the audiblesource may the voice of a user, the signal characteristics may includesignal signature information and contextual or environmental informationmay include user status (e.g., engaged or on-break) and/or backgroundnoise levels. The organization may be a retail environment, a school, anevent, a military organization, a prison organization, customer service,manufacturing organization, a factory, a disaster response team, or anyenvironment where humans interact with one another to accomplish apurpose. The first communication device may be a handheld device that iscapable of sending and receiving signals and may comprise a display, amicrophone and a speaker. The first communication device may be owned bythe organization and issued to the user or may be the user's personalproperty such as a smart phone executing an application. The secondcommunication device may be a radio base station as described herein.

At 904, a user is identified as associated with the first communicationdevice at the computer system. The actual identity of the user mayremain anonymous to the computer system or the user may be identified.The user may be identified using one or a combination of severaldifferent techniques.

At 906, a query is derived from the signal of the first device relatedto the organization, at the computer system. The query may be any numberof queries from the user. The user may ask for general assistance or mayask a more specific question such as whether an item is in stock, wherean item is located, what sales are taking place, technical details orfeatures regarding an item or requesting general assistance.

At 908, a person representing the organization is determined to respondto the query, wherein the determining is based on a factor related tothe person representing the organization. The factor may also bedescribed as a characteristic. The factor may be related to the queryfrom the user. For example, the user may ask a question regarding anitem in a given department. The determining may be based on who isassociated with the given department. The factor may also be based onthe status of the person, the availability of the person, the proximityof the person to the user, geographic location of the person, knowledgelevel of the person, authority level of the person, ability of theperson, or a combination of factors. The determining may determine thata plurality of persons qualify to respond. The signal may then beforwarded to one of the plurality, a subset of the plurality, or all ofthe plurality of persons.

At 910, the signal is forwarded to a third communication deviceassociated with the person representing the organization.

At 912, a determination that no response has been received at the secondcommunication device from the third communication device is made. 912may occur after 910 in an embodiment where 916 and 918 do not occur.However, 912, 914, 916 and 918 may all occur in one embodiment. Suchdetermination may occur after a pre-determined time period has passedwith no response from the third communication device. Such adetermination may or may not preclude the third communications devicefrom later responding.

At 914, the signal is forwarded to a fourth communication deviceassociated with the person representing the organization. 912 and 914may be repeated forwarding the signal to additional communicationdevices until it is determined that a person representing theorganization has responded via a communication device. Alternatively,910 and 914 may forward the signal to a plurality of communicationdevices associated with a plurality of persons representing theorganization. Once any one of the plurality of persons responds, theperson and the user may be placed into a communications channel viatheir communications devices. The communications channel may be privatein the sense that the other members of the plurality of personsrepresenting the organization do not hear subsequent communications overthe communications channel. This may be accomplished via the computersystem associated with the second communications device. The subsequentcommunications may all be relayed or forwarded between the user and theperson representing the organization via the second communication deviceand the associated computer system. In one embodiment, the communicationchannel is open to all members of the plurality of persons representingthe organization. In one embodiment, the communication channel is opento a subset group of the plurality of persons representing theorganization. For example, the subset group may be only persons who aredetermined by the computer system to have knowledge regarding the querymade by the user or may only be persons who are determined to beavailable, or persons who have interest in learning more about thesubject, or some combination of these characteristics.

By forwarding the signal to a fourth communication device or a pluralityof other devices, the circle or group of those required or enlisted tohelp the user is enlarged. In other words, the user may send acommunication or query indicating that the user is in need ofassistance. The computer system determines a first person is to assistthe user, but if the first person doesn't respond, the computer systemthen determines a second person or a plurality of persons to assist theuser. Thus the group of those responding to the assistance needincreases. In one embodiment, the initial communication from the firstuser may go to a designated plurality and the first person to respondbecomes established in a private one-on-one conversation with the first(originating) user.

At 916, a response is received from the third communication device atthe computer system. 916 may occur after 910 in an embodiment where 912and 914 do not occur.

At 918, the response is forwarded to the first communication device. 918may occur after 916 in an embodiment where 912 and 914 do not occur.Process 900 may initiate a virtual voice connection between twocommunication devices where the communication is relayed or forwardedvia the computer system and the second communication device. Thus thecomputer system and the second communication device may be described asmediating the communications.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating process 1000 for performingstructured communications in an observation platform in accordance withone embodiment of the present technology. Process 1000 may also bedescribed as disciplining communications in an observation platform. Inone embodiment, process 1000 is a computer implemented method that iscarried out by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 1000 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. In one embodiment, the methods mayreside in a computer usable storage medium having instructions embodiedtherein that when executed cause a computer system to perform themethod.

At 1002, a signal is received from a first communication device at asecond communication device associated with a computer system, whereinthe computer system is associated with an organization, wherein a firstcharacteristic of the signal corresponds to an audible source and asecond characteristic of the signal corresponds to informationindicative of a geographic position of the first communication device.Additional characteristics of the signal may include contextualinformation and environmental information. For example, the audiblesource may the voice of a user, the signal characteristics may includesignal signature information and contextual or environmental informationmay include user status (e.g., engaged or on-break) and/or backgroundnoise levels. The organization may be a retail environment, a school, anevent, a military organization, a prison organization, customer service,manufacturing organization, a factory, a disaster response team, or anyenvironment where humans interact with one another to accomplish apurpose. The first communication device may be a handheld device that iscapable of sending and receiving signals and may comprise a display, amicrophone and a speaker. The first communication device may be owned bythe organization and issued to the user or may be the user's personalproperty such as a smart phone executing an application. The secondcommunication device may be a radio base station as described herein.

At 1004, a user is identified as associated with the first communicationdevice at the computer system. The actual identity of the user mayremain anonymous to the computer system or the user may be identified.The user may be identified using one or a combination of severaldifferent techniques.

At 1006, a query is derived from the signal related to the organization,at the computer system. The query may be any number of queries from theuser. The user may ask for general assistance or may ask a more specificquestion such as whether an item is in stock, where an item is located,what sales are taking place, technical details or features regarding anitem.

At 1008, a plurality of persons representing the organization aredetermined to respond to the query, wherein the determining is based ona factor related to the plurality of persons representing theorganization.

At 1010, the signal is forwarded to a plurality of communication devicesassociated with the plurality of persons representing the organization.Such a series of communications may be described as a one-to-manycommunication. The “many” group may be default or predefined group suchas all those associated with a given department or all those who areassociated with a given area of expertise. Groups may also be createdbased on names, locations, availability or status.

At 1012, a response is received from a communication device associatedwith one of the plurality of persons representing the organization atthe second communication device.

At 1014, the response is forwarded from the second communication deviceto the first communication device. Thus the communication may go from aone-to-many to a one-to-one communication.

At 1016, a communication channel is opened between the firstcommunication device and the communication device associated with one ofthe plurality of persons. In other words, the communication from thefirst (originating) user is sent to multiple persons. The first personto respond enters into a communication channel between the firstcommunication device and the communication device associated the person.Others who respond within a pre-determined timeframe are also includedin the “channel.” The communication channel may be mediated by thecomputer system and once all users have entered, may not be overheard bythe other persons from the plurality of persons. The usefulness of thisstructure is that it allows ad-hoc group construction by simplyannouncing the intent of the group, and only those responding are tiedinto the private group “channel”.

In one embodiment, the communication may go from a one-to-many to aone-to-few communication. The persons in the few of the one-to-fewcommunication may be a subset of the many persons from the one-to-many.For example, the initial communication may be sent to all those personsholding communication devices. The computer system may then open acommunication channel between the first person to respond where thechannel is also opened to others person representing the store who areassociated with a specific role or department. Thus only one person maybe actively communicating with the user, but other persons may hear thecommunications and may join at any time. Thus the communication may notdisrupt those who are otherwise not interested.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating process 1100 for sendingnotifications in an observation platform in accordance with oneembodiment of the present technology. Process 1100 may also be describedas disciplining communications in an observation platform. In oneembodiment, process 1100 is a computer implemented method that iscarried out by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 1100 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. In one embodiment, the methods mayreside in a computer usable storage medium having instructions embodiedtherein that when executed cause a computer system to perform themethod.

At 1102, a signal is received from a first communication device at asecond communication device associated with a computer system, whereinthe computer system is associated with an organization, wherein a firstcharacteristic of the signal corresponds to information indicative of ageographic position of the first communication device. The organizationmay be a retail environment, a school, an event, a militaryorganization, a prison organization, customer service, manufacturingorganization, a factory, a disaster response team, or any environmentwhere humans interact with one another to accomplish a purpose. Thefirst communication device may be a handheld device that is capable ofsending and receiving signals and may comprise a display, a microphoneand a speaker. The first communication device may be owned by theorganization and issued to the user or may be the user's personalproperty such as a smart phone executing an application. The secondcommunication device may be a radio base station as described herein.

At 1104, a user is identified as associated with the first communicationdevice at the computer system. The actual identity of the user mayremain anonymous to the computer system or the user may be identified.The user may be identified using one or a combination of severaldifferent techniques.

At 1106, a history of activities of the user associated with theorganization is accessed. The history of activities may be a userhistory or user profile that may or may not identify the user. Thehistory may have a list of all the transactions of this user associatedwith the organization. The history may also comprise informationprovided by the user such as likes and dislikes or preferences regardingwhich person the user wishes to be served by while in the organization.The computer may attempt to find the preferential associate(s) andnotify them that the shopper is in the store and where they are located.The associates contacted may hear prior conversations with that shopperto refresh their memory and aid in making the shopper experienceseamless.

At 1108, a geographic location of the first communication device in theorganization is derived at the computer system. For example, thecomputer system may determine that the user is on a given aisle such asthe cereal aisle in a grocery store or in a zone that may correlate to adepartment such as the lumber department in a hardware store.

At 1110, a notification is sent to the first communication devicewherein the notification is based on the history of activity and thegeographic location of the first communication device. For example, thenotification may alert the user of a coupon or special on a given itemin the organization that is for sale. The coupon or special may be foran item that the user previously purchased which knowledge was obtainedby the computer system based on the history of user activity. Thenotification maybe any number of notifications including a text messageor an audible message and the notification may be accompanied by analert such as a vibration or an audible sound. The history of activitymay be utilized to automatically connect communications from the user toa person with whom the user has prior interactions.

At 1112, at least a portion of the history of activities is delivered tothe first communication device. Such information may be used the user todetermine what items the user previously purchased. For example, theuser may wish to purchase the same item again but does not remember theexact details of the item or the user may wish to avoid purchasing thesame item. The user may also use the information to identify a personrepresenting the organization with whom the user wishes to interact withagain. For example, the user may have had a pleasant experience with agiven sales associate and know that sales associate can meet the user'sneeds. In one embodiment, step 1112 is not performed as part of process1100.

Process 1100 may be used in conjunction with a loyalty program involvinglotteries or coupons that may be in existence before the communicationsplatform is implemented in the organization or may be created based onthe communications platform or a combination of the two.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating process 1200 for performingstructured communications in an observation platform in accordance withone embodiment of the present technology. Process 1200 may also bedescribed as disciplining communications in an observation platform. Inone embodiment, process 1200 is a computer implemented method that iscarried out by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 1200 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C or 2. In one embodiment, the methods mayreside in a computer usable storage medium having instructions embodiedtherein that when executed cause a computer system to perform themethod.

At 1202, a signal is received from a first communication device at asecond communication device associated with a computer system, whereinthe signal comprises a mandatory message for a third communicationdevice. For example, the mandatory message may be a message that isrequired to be delivered to each employ associated with an organizationand an acknowledgement received and recorded. The requirement may be alegal requirement to notify employees of certain information or may berequirement implemented by the organization. The mandatory message maybe delivered as an audible message or a text message. The mandatorymessage may also direct a user to a location where more information maybe found.

At 1204, the signal is forwarded with the mandatory message to the thirdcommunication device associated with a user such that a receipt of themandatory message at the third communication device will lock featuresof the third communication device until the mandatory message has beenacknowledged by the user. For example, the third communication devicemay be a handheld device and may have features such as the ability tocommunicate with other devices or the ability to connect to otherdevices such as a computer system and may be used to access informationfrom a database. Upon receipt of the mandatory message, some or all ofthe features of the communication device may be locked meaning that theuser not able to access the features. For example, upon receipt of themandatory message the communication device may lock or disable theability to communicate with other devices.

At 1206, an acknowledgement of the mandatory message is received fromthe third communication device at the second communication device. Theacknowledgement may be generated manually by the user of the thirdcommunication device or may be automatically generated. For example,upon receipt of the mandatory message, the third communication devicemay display an option to access the mandatory message. Once the useraccesses the message, the acknowledgement may be sent automatically, oran option may be presented to the user to send the message. In oneembodiment, the user is required to create an acknowledgement message tosend back. The acknowledgement message may be a text or audible messagecreated by the user.

At 1208, the acknowledgement of the mandatory message is forwarded fromthe second communication device to the first communication device. Inone embodiment, the locked features of the third communication devicemay be unlocked in response to the user accessing the mandatory message.In one embodiment, the locked features of the third communication devicemay be unlocked in response the computer system receiving theacknowledgement. In one embodiment, the locked features of the thirdcommunication device may be unlocked in response to the user of thefirst communication device receiving the acknowledgement.

At 1210, the signal with the mandatory message is forwarded to aplurality of communication devices associated with a plurality of userssuch that a receipt of the mandatory message at each of the plurality ofcommunication devices will lock features of each of the plurality ofcommunication devices until the mandatory message has been acknowledgedby each of the plurality of users.

At 1212, a characteristic of the forwarding the signal with themandatory message is tracked. In one embodiment, the system tracks thetime the message was sent, when it was heard by the user, and when andwhere the user was located when they acknowledged. Associated with thestatistical information is a speech file of what the user said. Thisfeature is ideal for communicating policy or liability information andassuring that that information was received and understood. It should beappreciated that there is more than one type or class of mandatorymessages. Each type or class may have different requirements for thedelivery and/or acknowledgement.

It should be appreciated that processes 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800,900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 need not carry out each of the described stepsto complete its operation. Nor do the steps need to be carried out inthe order described. It should be appreciated that processes 300, 400,500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200, or portions thereof, maybe combined with one another using any number of combination. Forexample, the response from the computer system in process 800 may takeplace in 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating process 1400 for managing anddistributing content in a plurality of observation platforms inaccordance with one embodiment of the present technology. In oneembodiment, process 1400 is a computer implemented method that iscarried out by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 1400 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, or 13. In one embodiment, the methodsmay reside in a non-transitory computer usable storage medium havinginstructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer systemto perform the method.

At 1402, a message is generated with content at a content distributionmanager. The content may be pre-recorded or generated and accessed bythe content distribution manager or may be generated as new originalcontent. In one embodiment, the content is an audible voice recordingstored in an electronic format such as a WAV file. The contentdistribution manager may be accessed by a computer system via a URL andcomprise an API.

At 1404, a delivery of the message is scheduled and a plurality ofspecified devices are specified for delivery in a plurality ofobservation platforms at a designated time via the content distributionmanager, wherein the plurality of observation platforms are capable ofreceiving a signal from a first mobile device with a firstcharacteristic that corresponds to an audible source and a secondcharacteristic that corresponds to information indicative of ageographic position of the first mobile device and relaying the signalto a destination based on the first characteristic and/or the secondcharacteristic. The message may be scheduled for immediate delivery suchthe message is delivered immediately after it is received or immediatelyafter it is scheduled for delivery.

The user of the content distribution manager may designate a time todeliver the message, how long the message should be available, and whichdevices in which observation platforms to deliver the message to. Themessage may be delivered to different devices simultaneously or atdifferent designated times.

The user of the content distribution managers may specify which devicesreceive the message based on groupings defined by context information(Process 700), rules or policy information (Process 300), historicalinformation (Process 1100) or manual groupings of individuals who areidentified by the system.

At 1406, the message is delivered to the plurality of observationplatforms which relays the message to the plurality of specified devicesat the designated time. Cloud services 1316 of FIG. 13 may employmessage scheduler 1322 and message broker 1324 for such delivery. Oncethe device has received the message, the device may notify the user thata message has been received using a light or sound or other notificationtechnique. In one embodiment, the message is immediately delivered.

At 1408, a confirmation is received at the content distribution managerthat the message has been delivered to one of the plurality of specifieddevices.

At 1410, a confirmation is received at the content distribution managerthat the message has been played at one of the plurality of specifieddevices. 1408 and 1410 may be associated with mandatory messages asdescribed herein.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating process 1500 for managing aplurality of observation platforms via a manager application inaccordance with one embodiment of the present technology. In oneembodiment, process 1500 is a computer implemented method that iscarried out by processors and electrical components under the control ofcomputer usable and computer executable instructions. The computerusable and computer executable instructions reside, for example, in datastorage features such as computer usable volatile and non-volatilememory. However, the computer usable and computer executableinstructions may reside in any type of non-transitory computer usablestorage medium. In one embodiment, process 1500 is performed by thecomponents of FIG. 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, or 13. In one embodiment, the methodsmay reside in a non-transitory computer usable storage medium havinginstructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer systemto perform the method.

At 1502, one observation platform of a plurality of observationplatforms is accessed via a manager application at a mobile devicecomprising a processor, memory, and a network interface card, whereinthe plurality of observation platforms are capable of receiving a signalfrom a first mobile device with a first characteristic that correspondsto an audible source and a second characteristic that corresponds toinformation indicative of a geographic position of the first mobiledevice and relaying the signal to a destination based on the firstcharacteristic and/or the second characteristic. The mobile device maybe a mobile computer system such as a smart phone or a tablet computer.The manager application may be an app designed specifically for the typeof device. The device may execute a specific operating system such as anAndroid operating system or an iOS operating system.

At 1504, monitoring statistics are displayed of the one observationplatform corresponding to devices associated with the observationplatform. The manager application may be able to access monitoringstatistics for a plurality of observation platforms.

At 1506, a message is received at the manager application from a user ofthe mobile device.

At 1508, the message is relayed to specified devices in the oneobservation platform from the manager application, wherein the specifieddevices are specified by the user via the mobile device and the managerapplication. 1506 and 1508 may be managed using techniques similar towhat is described for messages in regards to content distributionmanager browser 1304 of FIG. 13 and/or the context based techniquesdescribed in Processes 700 and 900.

At 1510, a confirmation is received at the manager application that themessage has been delivered to at least one of the specified devices.

In one embodiment, process 1500 is used only to send and receivemessages and does not include monitoring steps such as 1504. In oneembodiment, process 1500 is used only for monitoring steps such as 1504and does not send and receive messages such as steps 1506, 1508, and1510.

Example Computer System Environment

Portions of the present technology are composed of computer-readable andcomputer-executable instructions that reside, for example, incomputer-usable media of a computer system or other user device.Described below is an example computer system or components that may beused for or in conjunction with aspects of the present technology.

It is appreciated that that the present technology can operate on orwithin a number of different computer systems including general purposenetworked computer systems, embedded computer systems, cloud-basedcomputers, routers, switches, server devices, user devices, variousintermediate devices/artifacts, stand-alone computer systems, mobilephones, personal data assistants, televisions and the like. The computersystem is well adapted to having peripheral computer readable media suchas, for example, a floppy disk, a compact disc, and the like coupledthereto.

The computer system includes an address/data bus for communicatinginformation, and a processor coupled to bus for processing informationand instructions. The computer system is also well suited to amulti-processor or single processor environment and also includes datastorage features such as a computer usable volatile memory, e.g. randomaccess memory (RAM), coupled to bus for storing information andinstructions for processor(s).

The computer system may also include computer usable non-volatilememory, e.g. read only memory (ROM), as well as input devices such as analpha-numeric input device, a mouse, or other commonly used inputdevices. The computer system may also include a display such as liquidcrystal device, cathode ray tube, plasma display, and other outputcomponents such as a printer or other common output devices.

The computer system may also include one or more signal generating andreceiving device(s) coupled with a bus for enabling the system tointerface with other electronic devices and computer systems. Signalgenerating and receiving device(s) of the present embodiment may includewired serial adaptors, modems, and network adaptors, wireless modems,and wireless network adaptors, and other such communication technology.The signal generating and receiving device(s) may work in conjunctionwith one or more communication interface(s) for coupling information toand/or from the computer system. A communication interface may include aserial port, parallel port, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet port,antenna, or other input/output interface. A communication interface mayphysically, electrically, optically, or wirelessly (e.g. via radiofrequency) couple the computer system with another device, such as acellular telephone, radio, a handheld device, a smartphone, or computersystem.

Although the subject matter is described in a language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A method for managing and distributing content in a plurality of observation platforms, comprising: generating a message with content at a content distribution manager; scheduling delivery of said message and specifying a plurality of specified devices for delivery in a plurality of observation platforms at a designated time and/or location via said content distribution manager, wherein said plurality of observation platforms are capable of receiving a signal from a first mobile device with a first characteristic that corresponds to an audible source and a second characteristic that corresponds to information indicative of a geographic position of said first mobile device and relaying said signal to a destination based on said first characteristic and/or said second characteristic; and delivering said message to said plurality of observation platforms which relays said message to said plurality of specified devices at said designated time and/or location.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said content distribution manager has a graphical interface that is accessed at a computer system via a uniform resource locator (URL).
 3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said specifying said plurality of is based on a factor selected from the list of factors consisting of: time, location, device, user status, user roles, policies, and contextual information derived from said signal.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said content is pre-recorded audio.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said content is audio that is recorded during said generating said message.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said content is audio derived from textual and/or machine language converted to spoken language and/or other audible cues.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said content distribution manager further comprises abilities to listen to and/or talk to individual devices or a plurality of devices based on said signal or contextual information derived from said signal.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising: receiving confirmation at said content distribution manager that said message has been played at one of said plurality of specified devices.
 9. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said content distribution manger is further for displaying data from a plurality of observation platforms wherein each of said plurality of observation platforms are associated with a geographically located environment.
 10. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said scheduling delivery of said message is for an immediate delivery of said message and said delivering said message occurs immediately upon receiving said message.
 11. A non-transitory computer-usable storage medium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for managing and distributing content in a plurality of observation platforms, said method comprising: generating a message with content at a content distribution manager; scheduling delivery of said message and specifying a plurality of specified devices for delivery in a plurality of observation platforms at a designated time and/or location via said content distribution manager, wherein said plurality of observation platforms are capable of receiving a signal from a first mobile device with a first characteristic that corresponds to an audible source and a second characteristic that corresponds to information indicative of a geographic position of said first mobile device and relaying said signal to a destination based on said first characteristic and/or said second characteristic; and delivering said message to said plurality of observation platforms which relays said message to said plurality of specified devices at said designated time and/or location.
 12. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said content distribution manager has a graphical interface that is accessed at a computer system via a uniform resource locator (URL).
 13. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said specifying said plurality of is based on a factor selected from the list of factors consisting of: time, location, device, user status, user roles, policies, and contextual information derived from said signal.
 14. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said content is pre-recorded audio.
 15. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said content is audio that is recorded during said generating said message.
 16. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said content is audio derived from textual and/or machine language converted to spoken language and/or other audible cues.
 17. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said content distribution manager further comprises abilities to listen to and/or talk to individual devices or a plurality of devices based on said signal or contextual information derived from said signal.
 18. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 further comprising: receiving confirmation at said content distribution manager that said message has been played at one of said plurality of specified devices.
 19. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said content distribution manger is further for displaying data from a plurality of observation platforms wherein each of said plurality of observation platforms are associated with a geographically located environment.
 20. The non-transitory computer-usable storage medium as recited in claim 11 wherein said scheduling delivery of said message is for an immediate delivery of said message and said delivering said message occurs immediately upon receiving said message.
 21. A method for managing a plurality of observation platforms via a manager application, comprising: accessing one observation platform of a plurality of observation platforms via a manager application at a mobile device comprising a processor, memory, visual screen, and a network interface card, wherein said plurality of observation platforms are capable of receiving a signal from a first mobile device with a first characteristic that corresponds to an audible source and a second characteristic that corresponds to information indicative of a geographic position of said first mobile device and relaying said signal to a destination based on said first characteristic and/or said second characteristic; displaying monitoring statistics of said one observation platform corresponding to devices associated with said observation platform; receiving a message at said manager application from a user of said mobile device; and relaying said message to specified devices in said one observation platform from said manager application, wherein said specified devices are specified by said user via said mobile device and said manager application.
 22. The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said mobile device is selected from the group of mobile devices consisting of: a smart phone, a smart phone executing an Android operating system, a smart phone executing an iOS operating system, a laptop, and a tablet computer system.
 23. The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said manager application has a graphical interface that is accessed by said mobile device.
 24. The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said message is a voice recording of said user of said mobile device.
 25. The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said displaying said monitoring statistics displays data from a plurality of observation platforms wherein each of said plurality of observation platforms are associated with a geographically located environment.
 26. The method as recited in claim 21 further comprising: receiving confirmation at said manager application that said message has been delivered to at least one of said specified devices. 